sweet928

I posted this question at the back of an old post from 2002 last night. But seems most of the replies are centered around air box stuff on the old post. My question is about my cowl having been trimmed down a few inches by the PO.

I didn't even notice it when I bought the car two months ago. When I noticed it, I called the PO. He said he did it because the guys online were doing it to deal with OB's running hot. He had the car 13 years and I think he did it a decade ago...Later on he bought a aluminum radiator and the car runs on the lowest bar on the temp guage.

The cowl was cut down about 3 inches from the top and about the width of the airbox. So now I cant mound the plastic cover or the weather strip at the front of the cowl and seal off the engine as Porsche intended.

Anyone know more about the pros and cons of this choice by the PO? I am inclined to correct this, but not sure how to best go about it. Any ideas? I just ordered the $75 cover plus the weather stripping and thought a metal fabricator or welder could put some metal back using the cover as a guide. Or should I just leave it as is? Hard to get a good picture, but here are some.

Maybe I should leave it alone? The car is not a daily driver and will never see rain and I don't think it ever has in 30 years. Also, my AC is working quite well and blowing nice and cold so if the HVAC is pulling in hot engine air, it seems to be handling it OK.

Herman K

I would bring that back to factory specs make a template use rivets and aluminum to restore. Keeping the area clean and the car close to original correcting the PO's mistake

sweet928

I am inclined to agree...How do I make a template for a missing section of cowl?

Tampa 928s

Can't you use a rubber trim and just fudge it, does your cowl cover go the whole way or just 1/2 way. If you can find a full plastic cover and a deeper rubber you can possibly hide the damage. I wonder why someone would think this was a good idea, blocking the front radiator would seem to help more than the rear section. You are going to get water in there regardless some years use a 1/2 section cover so I would not see it as an issue.

sweet928

I just ordered the cowl cover from 928 Specialists. I don't have it yet - so I can't line it up and see how much missing cowl is covered, but my understanding -- from checking here -- is that I need the missing cowl metal to secure the plastic cover -- with some little clips.

That was what I was trying to find out more about. The PO didn't seem like the type to just cut off some of his cowl without some semblance of a reason. Nontheless, I can't seem to find any references encouraging this cut other then one from 2002 where someone referenced that they had heard alot of talk about doing this.

It seems like there - was at one time - perhaps a decade ago - the belief and /or recomendation from fellow OB'ers -- that cutting the cowl made sense. Just would like to find out more about this - even if only for a sense of morbid curriosity.

Alan

I found this is a search... did you ever fix this..?

I have never heard of anyone doing this before and can't see any reasonable ratiionale why this would help - or even seem like it might help with an overheating situation.

What is does do for sure do is get you hot air into your fresh air intake for the HVAC - at idle stopped in traffic very very hot air... Seems a stupid thing to do. I wonder if he misinterpreted what folks were talking about

If you haven't fixed this yet I would. your template for the metal is the existing bulkhead and the shape of the cowl - the cowl fits down onto this bulkhead as I'm sure you figured out when you got it and the rubber gasket sits on top of that. The clips you mentioned are on the windshield side. I think the big challenge here is getting the height & flatness right so it fits but is really snug under the hood - to seal out the hot air.

what happened?

Alan

sweet928

I found a Rennlister who was cutting up a car and agreed to send me the cowl so I could weld it into place. However he never sent it. I've been driving this way since I got the car three years ago. Really don't notice any problem. I've always kept my eye out for someone cutting up a body as all I need is a piece of the cowl about 3 inches high and the middle third across.

Landseer

Keep it top-of-mind with folks here if it doesn't materialize quickly for you.
Should be a throwaway piece of a parted car, removable with torch or plasma.

Awesome avatar shot of your car. Gotta love that clean sans-spoiler look, especially from that angle

sweet928

Sorry, missed this reply somehow. Thanks for the compliment. I love that shot too.